When EMAN came visiting...
Mumbai is considered a booming medical hub where every year hundreds of foreign patients flock for treatment. But in 2017, the medical fraternity of Mumbai made international news when the world’s heaviest women -- Eman Ahmed -- decided to undergo bariatric surgery here. She landed in Mumbai on February 11 in a specially modified aircraft in the middle of the night. But after an ugly spat between her sister, Shaimaa Selim, and doctor, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, she left India to continue with her treatment in Abu Dhabi’s Burjeel Hospital. Sadly, she passed away on September 25 due to multiple organ failures at the hospital.
Late Eman, a resident of Alexandria, Egypt, was suffering from a rare genetic defect that caused severe obesity making her 498 kgs. Despite repeated tries, as Shaimaa claimed, no doctor came forward to help until Dr Lakdawala came forward. After the initial problem in transport to procure her medical VISA and the aircraft to carry her to Mumbai, she landed in Mumbai in February.
She underwent her first bariatric surgery after being kept on a protein diet for days. As claimed by her treating doctor, by April-end she had lost 330 kgs. But soon, things turned ugly when Shaimaa alleged that the doctors at Saifee Hospital were neglecting her.
Finally, she left Mumbai on May 4 after 82 days on a Boeing Business Jet that has been turned into an air ambulance. After initially showing signs of improvement, she died 16 days after her 37th birthday, due to complications from the underlying co morbid conditions, including heart disease and kidney dysfunction. Dengue cases in Maharashtra saw a 40 per cent increase between 2015 and 2017, said data released by the state health department. Mumbai registered the highest number of deaths due to dengue this year. Out of 34 deaths across the state, there were 17 deaths in Greater Mumbai.
According to the statistics till December 10, 6,894 people had tested positive for dengue compared to 4,936 in 2015 and 6,792 in 2016. The number of deaths too jumped from 23 in 2015 to 33 in 2016 to 34 this year. Moreover, Maharashtra stood third in the number of dengue deaths in the country this year, after Tamil Nadu (52) and Kerala (37).This is when 2015 had seen a considerable drop in dengue cases after 8,573 people being tested positive for dengue in 2014 and 54 of them dying. Dr Pradeep Awate, the state disease surveillance officer, said while district-wise data was not available, they have sure of a substantial rise in cases registered in Mumbai and Thane. “The rise in cases also means that there is better surveillance as compared to previous years,” he said. An official from the civic body’s insecticide department said it is a daunting task to identify all mosquito breeding spots as most are found in private properties, which the health workers cannot access easily.
40 per cent rise in dengue cases